By Andi Abdussalam
Jakarta, May 22 (ANTARA) - The crash of a Hercules C-130 of the Indonesian Air Force (TNI AU) in Magetan district, East Java, which killed about 100 military personnel and civilian passengers on Wednesday has prompted many quarters to urge the government to provide a special budget for the maintenance and rejuvenation of the Indonesian Defense Forces (TNI)'s main armament system (Alutsista).
"This is another accident of a series of airplane mishaps experienced by the TNI-AU. The government should now make a special budget for the purchase of TNI-AU equipment so that such an accident will not recur," Priyo Budi Santoso, chairman of the Golkar Party faction in the House of Representatives (DPR), said.
Purchased during the era of armed forces commander general M Jusuf in the 1980s, much of the military equipment owned by the TNI is now aging and in need of rejuvenation or replacement. In the past five months, at least six military plane accidents have happened.
The frequent accidents, according to Hidayat Nur Wahid, chairman of the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR), is a reminder to state institutions about the need to make follow-up efforts.
According to Vice President Jusuf Kalla, the crash of a Hercules C-130 in East Java could have been caused by lack of maintenance as a result of shortage of funds to finance the maintenance of the TNI's Alutsista equipment.
"This is the result of the inadequate budget portion for our Alutsista equipment," Kalla said. He said that most of the TNI's military armament was aging as it was bought during the era of the Late General M Jusuf.
He said that in the future the budget needs of the TNI should be met. "The budget needs of the TNI to procure or maintain its Alutsista will be met immediately. I guarantee that," the vice president, who is also taking part as a presidential aspirant of the Golkar Party in the upcoming July 8, 2009 presidential race, said.
Therefore, Prio Budi Santoso promised to do his best to draw up a special budget for the reugenration of the TNI's armament.
Pressure on the government that it should set aside special budget to build the country's military equipment also came from the Indonesian Islamic Students Association (HMI). It said that the government should not ignore the need for a sufficient defense budget because otherwise the safety of TNI personnel would be put at risk and the strategic efforts to safeguard the integrity of the country would be constricted.
"It is not appropriate for the government to provide a budget in the form of recap bonds for banks from the state budget while failing to provide a strategic defense budget for the TNI," Arif Mustofa, chairman of the executive board of HMI, said.
In the meantime, Yusron Ihza Mahendra, deputy chairman of House Commission I for defense affairs, said the funds made available for the defense budget and the maintenance of the country's main armament system were too small so that the TNI had been facing a lot of crucial problems such as a series of airplane accidents.
"The causes of Hercules crash in East Java have yet to be revealed but this should not necessarily lead the government to ignore the fact that the defense budget is too small," Yusron Ihza Mahendra said.
He said as a deputy chairman of Commission I, he often chaired House hearings on the military budget and knew well the details and amounts of the allocated funds for the defense system.
"For 2009, the ministry of defense proposed a minimum defense budget amounting to Rp127 trillion, but the government approved only Rp33.6 trillion, or about 16 percent," Mahendra said. Of the approved budget, some Rp27 trillion were allocated for defense personnel's salaries and office costs so that the remaining one which was used to rejuvenate and finance the maintenance of the country's Alutsista, became too small.
The Commission I deputy chairman said that with the frequent airplane accidents the government should have learned a lesson and should not kick a fuss only when an accident had taken place.
Mahendra even suggested that Indonesia produced its own equipment rather than importing it. "It is true we are not yet able to produce a Hercules plane. But we actually are able to produce other kinds of Alutsista equipment to support the need of the Air Force, Navy and Army such as armored vehicles, helicopters and other equipment.
According to a report in April last year, about 70 percent of the country's military armaments were aging and the TNI was putting to rest a number of its obsolete main armaments, including planes, ships and helicopters aged more than 30 years.
It was predicted that in the coming ten years the maintenance of TNI's armaments would cost Rp93.87 trillion (US$10.203 billion), of which Rp41.9 trillion (UA$4.5 billion) for the air force's armaments.
In the 2005-2024 period, the Air Force was planning to replace its combat and logistics (transport) planes which have been used for about 20 to 30 years, such as the OV-10 Broncos (already grounded), Hawk MK-53, F-5 Tigers and F-16 Fighting Falcons.
Within the period, the air force is also planning to add four batteries of airborne attack deterrence, three mission and reconnaissance planes and the procurement of arms such as missiles, and warplane ammunition and armaments.***1*** (T.A014/A/HAJM/15:55/O001) (T.A014/A/A014/A/O001) 22-05-2009 15:51:52
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